


butterflies

by 505crowd



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: BARELY NO ANGST, Fluff, Homo, M/M, Mutual Pining, Skating, eddie CANNOT skate, pennywise is a thing but doesn't appear, richie questioning his sexuality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 01:46:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24276829
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/505crowd/pseuds/505crowd
Summary: Richie can skate,Eddie cannot.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak & Richie Tozier, Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 1
Kudos: 43





	butterflies

**Author's Note:**

> have fun reading!! (:  
> ( ps. please let me know if there are any errors!!)

Richie really didn't want to go out tonight. Honestly, he was fine with staying in and binge watching Buzzfeed Unsolved, he's almost done with season five. He'd even had a Dr. Pepper and a microwave dinner meal in his fridge calling his name. But as soon as he walked into his third period class, Eddie was right there, begging him to join the losers for a fun night out.

First he declined, saying "I have a date with your mom." To which Eddie shoved him, exclaiming "No, Rich I'm serious. We are going skating!" Richie laughs because neither of them know how to skate, and imagining Eddie tripping and falling was actually pretty funny.

"What do I gain from this?" To be honest, Richie wasn't too fond of skating. He's only tried it once or twice and both times ended up with black and blue knees. "Time with me, I guess." And that takes Richie by surprise. Hell, Richie would watch his least favorite movie (Harry Potter, to be exact) over a hundred times just as long as Eddie was there with him. The time they spent together was worth more than diamonds, to Richie, as cheesy and stupid as it sounded.

"Whatever, fine, I'll go. Text me the time and shit." Richie walked to he desk, an annoyed expression displayed on his face as he grabbed his unfinished homework out of his bag.

——

They decided to meet at the skating rink, as it was only a few blocks from the school. In a small town like Derry, anything was in walking range, and that made their weekends a lot more enjoyable.

Eddie was the first one there, saying something about how it's better to be early than late. Richie, however arrived thirteen minutes late. By the time he arrived everyone had already paid and entered, except for Eddie, who was standing outside the door fiddling with his phone.

"Honestly I didn't think you'd come." Eddie laughed nervously, handing a couple dollars to the worker, and making his way into the rink with Richie. When they sat down with their skates, Richie rushed out a "Then why'd you wait for me?" His eyebrows furrowed, taking a glance at Eddie, who stopped untying his shoe.

"Eh, I don't know. I guess I just hoped you'd show up. And look, you did!" They took off their beaten up sneakers and replaced them with quad skates.

Richie surprisingly did better than expected and within five minutes, he was doing laps. Eddie on the other hand, was flailing and crawling across the floor more than he was skating. It was funny to see, until Eddie slipped once again, face first into the floor. Richie had stopped himself, skating to the center of the rink, where Eddie had fallen.

"Woah, woah are you good?" He kneeled down next to Eddie, who's eyes were burning red. "Hell yeah, I'm fine! Just scratched my knee." Eddie moved to see the damage, and when his leg came into view, they noticed his jeans were torn at the knee and blood was seeping out of a few scratches. Bill and Stanley had reached them by this time, asking Eddie if he was okay.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna-" he pointed to the benches, "sit down for a bit." They all nodded, watching as Eddie tried to stand. By his third attempt Richie just sighed "let me help you, doofus." He extended his arm out, his sweaty palm facing upwards. Eddie took it without complaint.

Richie wasn't gonna lie, his heart was racing and the warmth of his friends hand against his, made his palm sweat more. It felt like something out of a romance novel and it made Richie gag. He wasn't.. gay. He knew that. He hated the idea of it. No way was he ever gonna fall in love with a male.

He shook all of his thoughts out of his head, skating to the benches slowly, Eddie gliding along behind him. When they sat down their hands tore apart, and his hand suddenly felt cold. "I'm sorry for falling. I-" Richie laughed incredulously, "What? It's not like you meant to."

Eddie shrugged, his hand rubbing at his exposed knee. His blue jeans were cuffed and a red shirt was tucked neatly into them, accompanied by a black leather belt. Richie wore black ripped jeans with a blue sweatshirt he found laying on his floor.

"I'm sorry 'cause you could've been out there skating but instead you're sitting with me because I dont know _how_ to skate." Eddie groaned, "I just wish I knew how to skate. It's frustrating"

They stayed silent for a few more minutes, watching Bill do circles around Beverly. Richie cleared his throat before suggesting "what if I helped teach you how to skate." This caused Eddie's eyebrows to raise. "And how would you do that?"

Richie scratched at the back of his neck, standing up and offering the other his hand. "Hold my hand, I'll skate slow and show you the tricks." Eddie laughed, but grabbed the pale hand nonetheless.

It had been about ten minutes since Richie suggested he help Eddie, and Eddie was still flailing around hopelessly. Another minute passes before Eddie let's go of the hand in his and skates, albeit slowly, back to the center of the rink. Richie turns around to find Eddie already a few feet away, but it doesn't take him long to catch up.

"What's wrong?" He asks, and Eddie answers something back but Richie can't hear it over the music blasting in his ears. A classic 80's song that Richie can't remember the name of is playing, and the female is singing about a crush of some sorts. Richie would find it endearing if his friend wasn't looking at him with puppy eyes. Richie tries to ask what Eddie said but his throat is dry and no sound is coming out. He stares at his friend, dumbfounded.

Eddie pulls Richie closer, whispering in his ear, "Can we go back to the bench? My knees hurt." Richie nods and holds back a joke about sucking dick, and instead grabs the shorter's hand, leading them back to the benches.

There are two other people at the other end of the bench, one boy and one girl, and Richie recalls them eyeing Eddie earlier on in the night. He didn't think much of it until the girl is scooting closer to them and saying "hey, you're really cute!" Her eyes are locked onto Eddie's like a leech and Richie feels like he's third wheeling.

"Thank you!" Eddie smiles and his face turns a deep red, he tries hiding it behind his hands but everyone can see it. The girl's eyes move to Richie, who's looking at his fingers with intense interest. "You're cute too." She says with no interest whatsoever. Richie mumbled out a "thank you." Richie thought it was funny someone was flirting with Eddie in a skating rink when Eddie cant even skate. The irony.

The two leave Eddie and Richie in silence, and Richie lets out a breath he wasn't aware he was holding. "Well that was awkward," Eddie giggles and the sound is like music to Richie's ears. "Yeah, I thought for sure she was gonna ask you out. You get your first girlfriend at a skating rink, haha!" Richie tries to joke because that's the only way he gets through life. If something troubling happens, he laughs it off with a joke. Richie's just not sure why he thought this moment was so troubling.

"I dont like her," Eddie said bluntly, no joke about it. Richie could feel the mood shifting to something more serious and it made his whole body shiver. "Well yeah- you just met her." Richie took off his glasses to clean the lenses, trying to occupy his fingers. "No, I mean, I dont like girls." This makes Richie's fingers stop, his whole body stops, but he turns to look at his friend. "Huh?"

Eddie just waves a hand, clearly embarrassed. "Nothing, I gotta use the restroom, come with me so I dont die." Richie's still staring at Eddie, frozen, as his mind replays what was said. _I dont like girls._ Huh.

"Rich, I said c'mon." This pulls Richie out of his trance, as he stands up and skates (Eddie falls again and Richie spends a few seconds laughing at him) to the bathroom. Eddie doesn't trust himself at a urinal, afriad of falling so he makes his was to a stall, using the walls to hold himself up. The problem was, the doors didn't lock and Richie had to hold the door closed while Eddie peed.

Richie is still thinking about the whole "I dont like girls" thing, so his brain is a little occupied when Eddie finishes. Richie didn't get enough time to move back before the door flies open, making him slip and fall. He falls flat on his ass and is completely embarrassed. It's Eddie's turn to laugh at him, it's only fair. Only Richie's pain tolerance is unbelievably smaller than Eddie's, surprisingly so.

He doesn't cry, it doesn't hurt _that_ bad, but it hurts enough for his eyes to water. Eddie's down on his knees next to his friend in only a matter of seconds. "You good?" He's trying to assess the damage, only the damage is Richie's ass and that's a little awkward.

"Yeah," Richie tries to stand but his whole body hurts, so Eddie wraps and arm around the taller. With the extra help, the two make it out of the bathroom and back to the bench. They are extremely close and Richie can feel his heart racing faster, and he hopes Eddie doesn't feel it.

The other's left the skating rink a while ago, Richie's just now noticing, but that doesn't bother him. He came because Eddie promised time together, and time together he got.

"You know," Richie starts, he's not quite sure what he wants to say. The words ' _I_ _dont like girls either_ ' hang on the tip of his tongue, but his mind doesn't allow them to say it. He doesn't know why he's so afraid. 

Sure, his heart races when he touches Eddie, even when he sees Eddie, and his whole body feels numb and his hands start sweating and his mind goes blank and his breath stops and _oh my god, he likes Eddie._ He tries shaking the thought out of his head, he doesn't want it there. He doesn't want to like Eddie. His parents would legit beat his ass if they found out he liked a boy. It scares him immensely, and his blood runs cold.

"No, I dont." Eddie laughs, poking his friends shoulder, "You kinda blanked out there for a sec, are you okay? That fall looked like it hurt. Sorry for shoving the door in your face." Richie melts at the apology, because it wasn't Eddie's fault.

"Yeah, I was just- nevermind." Richie stays quiet.

It's ten thirty when they decide to go back home. The sky is dark and the moon is the only light illuminating Eddie's face. Richie thinks it's cute but doesn't say it aloud. His hands twitch at his side, aching to be held by the smaller boy beside him. He curls them into a fist and pushes the thoughts to the back of his head.

"How'd you know you didn't like girls?" Richie decides to ask. Maybe it can help him sort out the mess in his own head, he hopes.

"Ah, well, there's this boy," Richie feels like his whole stomach fell into a bottomless pit, and his heart _ached._ "Just being around him makes me happy. At first I thought it was a friend thing, but I dont feel the same with Bev, or any of my other friends. He's special." Richie wished he could take back his question, it's only making his head hurt more.

"Ooooh, Eds got a crush! How funky," Richie tried to joke, feeling like this is yet another troubling situation. Though, the thoughts never left his head. His mind screamed ' _Eddie, Eddie, Eddie'._

"You know," Richie starts again. This time he's gonna say it, he's gonna finally admit it to himself, he doesn't give a shit about what his parents think. He likes dudes, so what. Nothing comes out and Eddie laughs again.

"No I do not." They walk up Eddie's driveway, stopping by the door. "You should really stop saying 'you know' without knowing yourself. Maybe think ab-" Eddie was cut off by Richie's lips. It was unexpected, and Richie didn't have time to think about it. He pulled away, both of their eyes were wide.

"Richie-" Eddie started to say something but Richie couldn't hear anything. He fucked up, he fucked up bad. He just ruined a perfectly good friendship. Eddie just said he had a crush, and here Richie was, kissing him anyways.

Richie took a step back, "I'm _so_ sorry." He didn't get a chance to walk away before Eddie was grabbing his wirst, keeping him in place. "No," Eddie hissed, his eyebrows furrowing. "You aren't doing this Rich." Richie doesn't have time to ask 'Doing what?' Before Eddie is pulling him into a hug.

"I get it, I know how your family is. But you dont have to keep telling yourself it's wrong to feel like this." Richie tries to speak again, but nothing comes out but a whimper and he realizes tears are streaming down his face profusely. When had he started crying?

"You also dont have to rush into anything. Take time to think about it, you dont have to come to terms with it now. These things take time." Richie feels like he's in a therapy session with the way Eddie is talking to him. He takes the advice anyway.

"But there is nothing wrong with being gay." This makes Richie freeze. No ones ever called him gay in a non-derogatory way, and weirdly enough, it doesn't make him cringe.

"Yeah," Richie croaks out. They quickly pull away when the front door opens. "Eddie, what are you doing? Get in here, you're gonna get sick." Eddie's mom said, eyeing them suspiciously. Richie winked at Eddie, before wiping his eyes and whispering a "see ya tomorrow Eduardo." Richie leaves, goes back home and lays down in a cold bed. The Dr. Pepper goes forgotten and the microwavable dinner stays unmircowaved. It's fine, Richie's okay. He's also gay, and he thinks that's okay too.

The next time he really thinks about his sexuality is when the losers have a movie night a few weeks later. They're all huddled in Bill's living room, Beverley is in her own seat, Ben and Bill awkwardly share a love seat, Stan is fine with sitting on the floor and Eddie and Richie share a learher rocking chair made for one. They had fought over it before Bev suggested they share it, to which they both shrugged and sat down. A fuzzy gray blanket was thrown over the two of them and a bowl of popcorn was sat in Eddie's lap.

Richie was so close to Eddie it was unbearable, he felt everytime the other twitched. Sometime during the movie (they were watching The Goonies), Richie laid his head on Eddie's shoulders. His eyes got heavy and before he knew it, he was out.

By the time his eyes opened again, the movie was almost over. His hand suddenly felt warmer and he looked down to see Eddie's fingers laced with his. A blush flushed over Richie's face and down his neck. He didn't try to push down the feeling this time, going back to Eddie's speech. It was okay, he was okay, they were okay.

He smiled softly, squeezing the smaller hand that was tangled with his. And when he got a squeeze back, he glanced at Eddie, who was looking back at Richie. "It's okay?" Richie asked.

"It's okay." Eddie answered.


End file.
